Editorial: Agri's mojo is back
OPINION: Good times are coming back for the primary industries. From sentiment expressed at Fieldays to the latest rural confidence survey results, all indicate farmer confidence at a near-record high.
Spotted at Fieldays, and following a theme first seen in the New Holland ‘police’ tractor, Case IH New Zealand has unveiled a special edition ‘fire’ tractor as part of a partnership with Fire and Emergency NZ.
The Case IH Farmall tractor has flashing lights and a siren and is finished in livery typical of fire trucks everywhere.
Although it won’t be used to fight fires, the Case IH fire tractor will assist Fire and Emergency NZ to spread the message about fire safety in rural regions.
Case IH operations manager Tim Fanning says “Fire and Emergency NZ plays a vital role in helping keep our communities safe, so we are delighted to partner with them to help them engage with the public in a fun and unique way”.
Fire and Emergency’s national advisor fire risk management, Rob Goldring says the partnership and tractor will enable them to “talk with rural communities about developing greater resilience, especially in fire prevention and volunteer sustainability”.
Questions are being raised about just how good the state of the dairy industry is - especially given that the average farmgate payout for the coming season is set to exceed $10/kgMS.
A leading financial and banking advisor says he doubts if most dairy farmers fully understand the dynamics of banking.
Dairy farmers are shoring up their balance sheets, with almost $1.7 billion of debt repaid in the six months to March 2025.
Virtual fencing company Halter is going global but for founder Craig Piggott, New Zealand farmers will always remain their main partners.
A former Fonterra executive is the new chair of the Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand (DCANZ).
New Federated Farmers national dairy chair Karl Dean is looking forward to tackling the issues facing the sector.